A Party Every Day...

As I age many things are more difficult. Forgetting is not one of them. Forgetting is easy. Yesterday I was looking for my slippers. Slippers? Just a tad pretentious. I think slippers and immediately think pipe and. This is better, I was looking for the moccasin like footwear I usually have on indoors. After a few minutes of checking likely places, under the chair, under the bed, in the closet, I found them. They were on my feet.

Next year Wanda and I celebrate twenty five years of marriage. Here are a few things recommended by a 'relationship expert.' I doubt we will be doing any come October 2014.

The classic experience: Kissing under the cherry blossoms in springtime. Apparently this is a big thing for putting the romance back in your life. The best spots are Washington, D.C. and Japan. 

For the financially challenged: Kissing under a crab apple tree. If you can't find a crab apple tree try kissing under an umbrella in a hail storm. Find a blooming red alder tree and you can kiss and sneeze at the same time.

The active experience: Climbing a mountain. If you and your sweetie love nature and are not afraid of getting dirty, sign up for a triathlon, take rock climbing classes, or make plans to climb a mountain. "The thing that brings couples closer than anything else is having a fun and exciting experience," says Hunter Robinski, Ph.D.

Who is he kidding? A triathlon? "The thing that brings couples even closer is trying and failing these fun and exciting experiences," says Darrel C. Dunkin of Sunset Funeral Homes.

The creative experience: Sharing what you mean to each other. Spend time talking about what you love most about your partner. Do something fun and easy like a jigsaw puzzle or play a board game.

Or, you could both spend an evening or two watching the same television.

The adventurous experience: Going on a hot air balloon ride. Doing something outside your comfort zones can really juice up your romantic quotient.

When I want something 'juiced up' I'll eat a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich. I don't want my salivary glands working overtime while I'm a thousand feet in the air, in a basket, tied to a big balloon.

The uninhibited experience: Skinny dipping in the moonlight. "Lose your inhibitions and self-conciseness and go for it. Whether it's dancing on the table, learning how to play the piano or skinny dipping with your partner," says Dr. Sue Pasterinni. Research has shown the imagination can trigger love inducing brain chemicals.

I'm afraid to look at my naked body in a mirror. I'm not going skinny dipping anytime soon. And please, dance on a table? If I did manage to get up on one I'd probably fall and break my hip. As for the piano, I don't think I have enough years left for much more than Chopsticks.

The challenging experience: Learn how to scuba dive or surf. Relationships get stale so take classes together to learn something and meet new people at the same time.

More our speed would be learning how to play cribbage. Or meeting new people by joining a bowling league. Nothing like a snazzy new ball and bag, shoes, shirt, and a friend named Bud.

The expensive experience: Vacationing at an ice hotel or other exotic locale. Sure it's expensive but why dream up a romantic get-a-way and worry about the cost?

Go for it. You want to stay at that 'cool' place in Iceland. Maybe the neat huts on the water in Bora Bora? Don't forget the underwater hotel called Poseidon. Any one of these would be a once in a lifetime experience. So would living in a tent or cardboard box under a freeway overpass.

The culinary experience: Go grocery shopping and prepare your partners favorite foods for a nice romantic dinner. Or you could go out for pizza. Even better, don't bother to get dressed and order the pizza in.

The treasure experience: Make a Saturday thrift store visit fun and interesting with a 'find-it' list. Bring home a salt and pepper shaker set of Laural & Hardy or a shot glass from a Las Vegas casino. Be the first to find a t-shirt with a NASCAR logo on the front. Get points for an Elvis record album, bonus if it's pre 1970. Locate a John Grisham paperback about a lawyer and a DVR of "Animal House." Secure 150 points for finding anything with Made In U.S.A. on it.